Mv Last Breath
by xorie5
Summary: Meet me in the white forests of Valinor, but do not come until you hear the call of the sea." Those were her words before she died. Legolas made a promise, and it was a promise he planned to keep. LOC COMPLETE!
1. Default Chapter

**Hey y'all! This is a song-fic off of the song My Last Breath, by Evanessance. I don't really know why I wrote it, I was cruising song lyrics and found this one and I figured that it would make a great story thing. Please R&R when you're done! **

**I own nothing of Tolkien's, nor the song "My Last Breath" essentially, if you have even the smallest recognition of something, I don't own it. I only own Tari.**

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_My Last Breath_

Legolas gripped the shaking form in his arms. As he ran, he looked down at the face he had loved for more than a hundred years. Her hair was matted with blood, and deep black bruises colored the face of the elleth in his arms.  Gently, he lowered her body to the ground. 

As his eyes raked over her body, his lips formed a thin line in anger. Mentally, he cursed himself. This was his fault. He should have been more aware of his surroundings. He was brought out of his condemnations as the elleth stirred in his arms. She moaned slightly as he shifted her weight. Legolas caught his breath and quickly stopped moving.

After a few moments, she stopped moving and continued her ragged breathing. Legolas quickly shook his head, clearing his eyes of the tears that were threatening to fall.

He and Tari had been on their way to Lothlorien from Mirkwood, when they were ambushed by a band of orcs. They had been greatly outnumbered and soon were overtaken. The orcs bound their hands and marched them towards their nightly cave where they stayed for the day. Once there, the foul beasts had driven Legolas and his wife to the back of the cave. There, they tied them up, facing each other, and proceeded to torture them, one stoke of the whip at a time, keeping it painfully obvious that they would do the exact same to each of their captives.

Then, they had stopped beating the prince, and turned all of their attention to the elleth in their cave. After the first stroke that fell, that wasn't also directed at Legolas, they quickly realized that if they harmed the she-elf, and not the prince, they would cause just as much damage to both of them. So it continued until the orcs became too tired to continue. But by that time, irreversible damage had already been done. Everything after that was a blur to the elf prince, somehow he had gotten himself and his wife out of the cave and out of harms way.

Legolas cradled the precious cargo in his arms. Looking up at the cloudy sky, he silently begged the Valar to save his wife. Another moan made him look down at the elleth in his arms. He held his breath as her eyes slowly fluttered open. Her eyes locked on his and he felt a stab of pain shoot his heart when he saw the amount of pain in them. After a moment, she looked away and closed her eyes again.

"Tari?" he asked softly. Tari turned her head back towards him and tried to open her eyes. When she finally succeeded, they were tired and anyone could clearly read the message in them. _Just let me go._

When Legolas saw it, he immediately shook his head. "No." he whispered, his voice thick with emotion. "You can't leave me." His eyes glistened with tears.

Tari smiled wearily. She reached up and gently touched his cheek. "Hold me, melamnin" she whispered hoarsely.

**_Hold on to me love _**

**_You know I can't stay long   
All I wanted to say was I love you and I'm not afraid   
can you hear me?   
Can you feel me in your arms? _**

Legolas gently gripped the shaking form in his arms. His breathing hitched as he realized that he might be losing his beloved. Slowly, he started rocking back and forth. "Tari," he whispered, "Don't leave me. I need you!" Tari started to speak when a fit of coughing came over her. Pain lanced through her body, and the fiery ache in her chest confirmed that she had internal injuries. Panic ran through Legolas as his wife started coughing up blood. Closing his eyes, he placed his hand on her chest and willed the coughing to stop. Finally, after a few moments of desperate tension, the chest wrenching coughs slowed, and then stopped. The Silvan elf opened his eyes, and noticed that Tari had closed hers again. Panicking, he gently shook her, trying to keep her awake. Tari swallowed hard, and forced her eyes open again. Legolas' heart clenched painfully when he saw that the light in her eyes, which was usually so bright, had almost gone out. He shook his head, trying to deny the inevitable.

**_Holding my last breath   
Safe inside myself   
Are all my thoughts of you   
Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight   
_**

From her place in his gentle embrace, Tari smiled weakly. Her thoughts were only on him. Their times together, whether good or bad. The first time they met. It had been at an archery contest, and against all odds, she had made it to the final bracket and to her dismay, she found out that her opponent was the King's son himself. At the time, she had despised all types of royalty, thinking that they were rich snobs who cared nothing of the troubles of others. How wrong she was. Even though she had lost to the prince, that defeat had led to the most unlikely friendship imaginable. That friendship had turned into a romance, then eventually ended up with Legolas popping the question. Now she was lying in her beloved's arms, on death's doorstep, and all she could think about was him. Her very own prince. She took in a shaky breath as pain exploded through her senses. "Legolas," she started, fighting to stay for a few more moments, "You and I both know that I am leaving." She swallowed. "Promise… Promise me that you will go on and live your life to the fullest. Do not grieve for me." She stopped, unable to go one without losing complete control of her emotions. After a few moments, she said, "Wait until you hear the call of the sea before passing over the waters. I will be waiting for you in the white forests of Valinor."

**_I'll miss the winter   
A world of fragile things   
Look for me in the white forest   
Hiding in a hollow tree (come find me)   
I know you hear me   
I can taste it in your tears   
  
_**__

At her words, a broken sob escaped Legolas' lips. He feverently shook his head "No…No, don't say that, I'm going to save you." He choked out. "And together, we will go back to Mirkwood." His voice quivered.

"Promise me!" she said urgently.

Legolas closed his eyes. "I promise." He vowed.

Tari smiled sadly and gripped Legolas' hand in her own. "You already did." She said softly. "When you stayed with me, when you got us out." She paused to catch her breath. "When we first met." She stopped and closed her eyes, trying to save her strength. Something warm hit her face and slowly rolled down her cheek. She could faintly taste the saltiness of his tears. She forced her eyes open again and found Legolas with tears streaming down his face. Tari reached up and gently brushed them away with her fingertips.

**_Holding my last breath   
Safe inside myself   
Are all my thoughts of you   
Sweet raptured light it ends here tonight_**__

"Don't cry, melamin." She whispered softly. "We will see each other again. And when we do, nothing will ever be able to separate us." Legolas pulled her hand to his face and kissed the back of it. Slowly, he nodded.

"Nothing will ever be able to separate us again." He agreed.

**  
Closing your eyes to disappear   
You pray your dreams will leave you here   
But still you wake and know the truth   
No one's there**

His mind told him that this could all be a horrible dream, and that he would soon wake up and find his wife lying sleeping next to him on the bed. But deep in his heart, he knew. He knew it was real. So real it hurt.

"Legolas." The softly spoken word made Legolas look down again. Tari was looking at him, her eyes full of love. "Legolas." She said again, a little more strongly. "Amin mela lle."

Legolas' eyes filled with tears anew as he heard the simple words from his beloved's mouth. He squeezed his eyes shut, willing the tears to stop flowing. He had to be strong now, for her. Opening them, he was greeted by Tari smiling wearily up at him.

As well as he could, he returned it. "Amin mela lle." He whispered. Slowly he lowered his head and brushed his lips against hers. He kissed her long and tenderly, telling her of his love, and his promise to her. When he pulled away, his heart clenched when he saw that her eyes had closed again. "Tari?" he whispered unbelieving. "Tari?!" But there was no response.

**_Say goodnight   
Don't be afraid   
Calling me calling me as you fade to black…_**

The elleth could hear him. She wanted nothing more than to open her eyes and see his smiling face looking down at her. She was about to go back when she heard a call. It was the most compelling call she had ever heard before. A bright light approached her and she shielded her eyes from the blinding whiteness.

"Come, my child." A deep voice said. Tari hesitated, looking to the spot to where Legolas would have been. "I am Mandos. There is no need to fear me. I come to bring you to my halls." Tari bit her lip.

"But…" she started, but Mandos cut her off.

"Do not worry for your Prince. He will pull through this and come out stronger than he was before." The mighty Valar locked eyes with her. "You will see him again." Then he smiled. "In the white forests of Valinor. I promise you."

Taking a deep breath, she smiled and placed her hand in his and together they disappeared into the light.

Outside, Legolas watched helplessly as wife's breathing became shallower and shallower. By now the tears were falling freely down his face. With one final sigh, Tari's spirit fled her body, and departed to the halls of waiting.

The clouds opened up and it seemed like the heavens were crying with the lone elf prince as he cried over the lifeless body of his beloved princess.

**_Calling me calling me as you fade to black…_**

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**Wow…sniff that was sad… I had a friend pre-read it for me and she was like this…oO… (After she read it she ran around saying that I was depressed) lol.**

**I hope you like it, and there will be and epilogue after this, so check back later to see the long awaited reunion!**

**ElvenStar**


	2. Conversations on a Wall

**I know, I haven't updated in a while, but I have excuses! I had a HUGE history report that was due the day before I graduated. And it was taking up all of my time at home, and in between school and work, I didn't have any time to work on any of my stories. But I updated this one, and just to let you know, there will be two more chapters up by the end of this week, because I finished writing it, and I just need to get it all typed without my computer randomly restarting on me. That was annoying when it did it because I had almost my entire next chapter for one of my other stories all typed, and the computer restarted, and I lost it because something was wrong with the memory card. sigh oh well...**

**I'll be on vacation starting on the 20th, so that means I won't have computer access for a while, but I will try to write as much as I can so that I might get one up when I get back!**

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_150 years later..._

The sun's fading light casts its rays on the two figures sitting on the walls of Minas Tirith. One of the men had proud shoulders that held the tell-tale stoop of old age. His hair was dark brown, shot through with streaks of gray. On his brow, was a silver crown that showed his position as the king of Gondor. The other was a slim figured person. His face was eternally young and his golden blonde hair fell over his shoulders.

The two couldn't be more physically different, but they were bound as brothers. The trials they had faced together, had made them closer than blood.

"Legolas?" the dark haired man spoke. "What are you going to do after I pass on?" Legolas turned to his friend and raised an eyebrow.

"Why do you ask, mellonin?" he asked. Aragorn smiled wryly.

"I am old Legolas. I can feel it in my bones. Especially in the morning when I wake up." he added as an afterthought. "Something is telling me that my time here is almost up." Legolas's gaze softened.

"Have you told Arwen this?" he asked quietly. The king nodded. "Uma. Yes, I have also given this news to Eldarion, and have started passing on my duties to him." The elf nodded and turned his head to the west.

His eyes took on the far-away look of someone remembering something. Aragorn watched the elf silently. He was reminded of the many times he had found Elrond, his foster father, on the balcony thinking on Celebrian. The king waited for a moment before speaking. "Legolas?"

The Mirkwood elf gave a sigh and then turned back to Aragorn. "I will make sure that the settlement at Ithilien is secure, and then I will probably sail across the sea." he stopped and stared out across the plain. "Where I shall finally be reunited with my wife." He said this last part to himself, but the sharp hearing of Aragorn picked up the softly spoken words.

"You have a wife!?" he exclaimed incredulously. Legolas turned and smiled sadly at his long time friend. "Yes, she was my beloved." Aragorn looked at his friend in shock.

"And why wasn't I informed of this?" he asked, slightly hurt that his friend had kept it a secret from him.

"Because I was not ready to tell you. I do not mean to offend you. But let me tell my story before you judge my actions."

Aragorn nodded, wondering what had happened that would have kept the elf from telling him about his wife.

"I guess that I should start from the beginning. It was well over 1000 years ago when I first met Tari. There was a tournament that consisted of many skills that a warrior would need. The contest was to find out the best warriors in Mirkwood. There was sword fighting, horsemanship, knife work, and archery. The first time that I saw her was in the horsemanship contest. I came in third place while she came in first. That alone intrigued me. I had heard others speak badly about her, saying that woman should not be allowed to be in the contest. Her strength in ignoring the sneers and laughs from the members of the court showed me that she was stronger than most I knew. I don't even think that she noticed me in that part of the tournament.

The next time I saw her was while she was in the ring for swordsmanship. I was completely amazed at the amount of skill that she had. I had been eliminated towards the beginning because the sword is not my strong point. But I heard that she went on to place second with the sword." Legolas paused, thinking about the memory. "Then there was the knife work part of the tournament. I was supposed to face her, but she had been eliminated the round before. I won that part of the contest. Finally the archery section took place. I had been waiting for this part of the tournament through the entire contest. The way the archery was set up, it would be that after each round, the one with the lowest score was eliminated, and the rest moved on. When we took a break before the final round, I was greatly surprised that Tari was the elf that I would be competing against. I tried to talk to her...but she yelled at me, saying that I was a stuck-up snob of a prince who cared noting about others, and who's only wish was to get more attention." Legolas laughed quietly at the memory.

"That next round was very close. She only lost to me by one arrow." he stopped, thinking of a way to explain the next part of his story.

"Now, you have to understand, that back home, in Mirkwood, there was a group of elleths that were very...taken...with me. After the tournament, it was nearly impossible to step out of my father's halls without them following me. Well, one day, not long after the tournament, I saw Tari trying to make her way towards me. I later found out that she had wanted to apologize for her earlier  behavior towards me, but that's beside the point. On her way over, she happened to accidentally to bump into one of the higher ladies of the court, who did not like any who she thought below her. From where I was, I could see and hear everything that was going on between the two. The maiden., Alenyi, I believe her name was, told Tari that she was too poor and low in status to be even worthy of a glance from me. She said some other things that I will not repeat here. I was angered at her words, and started making a way towards her to send her away, but Tari beat me to it. She pulled a knife on Alenyi, and told her to stay away from her. I finally got there, and pushed the knife away, for feared that if I didn't, there would have been spilt blood in my father's courts, and I did not want to deal with that. I told Alenyi that I did not want to see her in my presence again. I guess that that is what started our friendship. It grew until one day, I realized that I loved her. Then, when I found out that she felt the same way, I asked her to marry me." Legolas stopped and closed his eyes.

Aragorn waited for a moment. He still did not understand. As if reading his mind, the elf shook his head. "Nay, the tale is not over yet my friend." he took a deep breath and let it out. "We were happily married for over 100 years. Then, one day, we were on a journey to Rivendell to visit some of her family there. Night was falling and we were looking for a place to camp. We were attacked by orcs. With only the two of us, we were outnumbered and overwhelmed." he took a breath. "The orcs took us back to their cave, and tourtured us. Then, for some reason, they stopped beating me and turned all of their attention to Tari.

I don't really remember what happened after that, but somehow I was able to get both of us out." Legolas' voice got quiet. "But it was too late. She had lost too much blood, and had been too deeply wounded..." At this point, Legolas stopped altogether and pressed his hands against his eyes.

Aragorn watched the elf for a moment. Even though he was pretty sure of what happened next, he had a feeling that his friend needed to say it himself. "What happened?" he prompted quietly.

The elf looked up at the sky which was quickly darkening.

"She died." he whispered.

Aragorn bowed his head. The two sat together on the wall in silence.  The sun sank behind the mountains, and the moon started to slowly rise into the night sky.

Legolas spoke first. "You are the first one I have ever told about her since she died. After she died, I forbid anyone to talk about her, or the day that it happened. But now that I have finally talked about it to somebody, I think that I can finally be able to heal."

Smiling, Aragorn rose slowly to his feet, groaning slightly as he felt his body protest to the simple motion. "Come mellonin. Let us go back to the palace." Legolas smiled and got to his feet, much more quickly than his human companion. And together, the two disappeared into the walls of the city.

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	3. Valinor

**I was good! I was good!! I got the next chapter up in time!!! YaY!**

**Well... not really, but I made the best effort that I could a few hundred miles away from home...**

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_It was a year of mourning for the people of Minas Tirith. King Elessar, the Elfstone, king of the free peoples of Middle Earth, was dead. He had died quietly with his friends and family by his side. After his death, his son, Eldarion, took up his father's place as king, and Arwen passed away into Lothlòrien and was never seen again by mortal eyes._

_It was then that Legolas built his grey ship in Icthilion, and together, with Gimli the dwarf, he set out down the Anduin, and onto the ocean. _

"Come master elf!" the stout dwarf called, "We must be off!" Legolas laughed at his friend's eagerness to get under way. He quickly climbed up the side of the boat. Together, he and Gimli unfurled the large sails and watched as the wind filled them, making them swell in the breeze.

As the ship started to move foreword, a fierce joy filled the elf prince. He turned to his friend and grabbed the dwarf's hands, spinning him around. "I'm finally going home!" he cried happily.

"Whoa laddie!" the dwarf cried, "I am not as young as I used to be!" Legolas threw back his head and laughed. Gimli glared at the elf.

"Well, somebody's happy." He growled under his breath. Legolas stilled his laughter and looked at his friend.

"Gimli, what would you do if you realized that you were finally going home for good?" he asked. Gimli shrugged.

"I don't really know, but it would most likely be a cause for food and ale!" Legolas shook his head.

"Everything is food and ale with you, Gimli." He said teasingly. The dwarf just rolled his eyes and went down into the cabin of the ship.

Legolas went to the bow of the ship and leaned on the railing, looking over the water. _Soon_he thought.

The sun was beginning to set when Gimli came back up, looking for the elf. He found him sitting on the edge of the deck, one knee drawn up to his chest, with his head resting on his knee. Legolas was starring out across the water, not really seeing anything that was in front of him.

So caught up in his thoughts, Legolas didn't hear his friend approach. Gimli lowered himself to the ground next to the elf. He watched the prince silently for a few moments before speaking.

"Who is she?"

At the sound of his voice, Legolas jumped and almost lost his balance. Gimli chuckled quietly at the elf. When He had regained his composure, he glanced at the dwarf. "What did you say?" he asked, slightly confused. Gimli chuckled again.

"Well, I come out here and find you starring out over the water. But you weren't really seeing anything. And, on my part, I have never been able to walk up to you without your knowing that I was there." He paused for a moment. "Who is she?" Legolas smiled and turned back to the water.

"You know me well, my friend." He said quietly. The elf was silent for a moment. "She's my wife."

Gimli raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Your wife?" he said amazed. "How come I didn't know of this?" Legolas laughed quietly at his friend's reaction.

"I did not tell you for the same reason I did not tell Aragorn, or anyone else, for that matter. I was not ready to tell you. Tari died in my arms over 100 years ago. On that night, I made a promise to her. Finally, that promise has been fulfilled." He paused thoughtfully. "Actually, that promise was filled when I first heard the gulls on the shores, but my loyalty to Aragorn made me stay until he had passed on. Now that he has departed to the halls of his fathers, I am finally going into the west. There, I will meet my beloved, and we will be together again, just as promised." Legolas sighed, "It has been too long."

"I am sorry for bringing up old memories." Gimli apologized. Legolas shook his head.

"There is no need to apologize my friend." He looked up at the dwarf, "Go, get some rest." Gimli snorted indignantly.

"What about you?" Legolas laughed.

"Haven't we already been through this? Elves do not need nearly as much sleep as old tired dwarves!"

"Old!" the dwarf exclaimed. "Old indeed! You shouldn't be talking master elf. It is you who seniors me by many centuries!" With a smile, the elf got to his feet, and offered a hand to the dwarf.

"That is true, but elves do not grow old. We simply stay the same. Dwarves, on the other hand, they grow old with the years, and it is my experience that the older a dwarf becomes, the grumpier he gets!"

Gimli glared at the elf before taking the offe . "Very well, I won't argue with you, but at the first sight of land, I want you to wake me, no matter what the time." Legolas smiled.

"I will, master dwarf. Soon we will be home for good." Then he led Gimil to his cabin, and went back out on deck. Gazing out over the dark blue water, with the stars reflecting in it, his mind wandered back to his wife.

_I am coming, melamin. I will find you soon. _

The sun had barely risen a few days later, when Legolas roused Gimli from his sleep. "Come Gimli, we are finally home." With these words, he sprang away from the dwarf, with Gimli following, albeit a bit more slowly, after him. When he reached the deck, he found the elf nearly bursting with excitement. "Can you see it?" Legolas asked awed, "The white shores of Valinor?" Gimli looked out over the ocean, but could see nothing. He squinted, trying to catch a glimpse of their destination.

"I can't see anything!" he exclaimed frustrated. "I don't have the eyes of an elf!"

"Nor a hawk." the softly spoken words of Legolas made the dwarf look up and glare at his companion. Then his mouth twitched into a smile before he broke out into laughter.

After a few hours, the boat was very near the shore. Even Gimli could see the individual faces on the beach. The ship lurched as it hit the shore. Eager hands reached up to help unload anything from the hold.

When Legolas' feet hit the sand, he was filled with an immense joy. Looking around, he watched as four figures came foreword out of the crowd. Legolas bowed his head in respect.

"There's no need for that here,Legolas." Elrond scolded gently.

"We are all equals here." Celeborn added. Legolas raised his head and noticed the elleth on Elrond's arm. With a start, she realized that it must be Celebrian, Elrond's wife. That thought made his heart clench slightly in pain because he was not yet with his beloved.

_Go to her._ Galadriel's voice sounded in his head. She motioned behind her. Legolas' eyes widened when he realized that she was pointing at a forest filled with white trees with silver leaves. The words of Tari's promise came back to him.

_I'll be waiting in the white forests of Valinor..._

He darted off into the forest, calling over his shoulder, "Thank you milady!"

Soon, the sounds of the going ons, on the beach faded away, and he was left with only the sounds of the forest. Slowing down, he reasoned that he would not find Tari by searching through the forest randomly. He closed his eyes and allowed his heart to guide him to her.

When he felt that he was close, he opened his eyes and turned his senses outward. A twig snapped to his left, and he swung around towards the noise. What he saw made his heart stop. Tari was leaning with her against one of the trees. The sun's light filtered through the branches, making her golden red-brown hair to shine. Her head was bowed, with her eyes on the ground.

Legolas took a hesitant step towards her. Tari's gaze flickered upward for a moment, and their eyes met. That broke the spell. Legolas ran towards the elleth and took her into his arms.

"Tari." he whispered, holding her close. Tears were streaming from Tari's eyes, and she buried her face into his chest, holding onto him as if she would never let go again.

"After you...died...I almost faded. But-" Tari placed her hand on his lips, quieting him.

"I know. I could feel you fading. I was afraid that any minute your fëa would come and join me in the halls of waiting. But Mandos came over and talked to me telling me that I was to appear to you in a dream and remind you of your promise. At first I was a little confused. Not often are people allowed to leave the halls of waiting, even for a little bit. Mandos explained to me that you had a bigger part to play in the course of history, and that if you faded, darkness would have a greater chance of taking over. He also told me that Manwë had requested it. So, I was allowed to appear to you in a dream."

Resting his head against hers, Legolas closed his eyes, remembering that night. "I remember that night. If you hadn't come, I would have faded."

Tari smiled. "I know. That is why I had to go." she stopped for a moment. "Legolas..." Any words she was going to say were stopped when Legolas pressed his lips against hers. The elleth grinned against his mouth before wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him closer. At that moment, words could not have said more.

When they pulled apart, Tari looked into Legolas' eyes and smiled. "I missed you more than you could ever imagain." She said, resting her head on his chest.

"Not nearly as much as I. I had to watch as your life slipped away in my arms. Something that should never have had to happen." The scorn in his voice made Tari pull away and look up at her husband. Legolas continued, not realizing that his wife had pulled away. "It never would have happened if I had been more aware of our surroundings that day. If only-" He stopped when Tari gently gripped his forearms. He looked down at his wife, and looked into her eyes not only to find a small amount of sorrow, but also understanding.

"Is that what you truly think?" she asked him softly. Legolas bowed his head in shame.

"If I had been more aware, I would have noticed that the orcs were coming, and would have been been able to allow us to escape. But I was arrogant and allowed his to be caught." Two fingers hooked under his chin, forcing him to look up again.

"Legolas," she started. "Do you remember where we first met?"she asked Legolas nodded, "how could I forget?"

"And do you remember what that tournament was for?" Again Legolas gave the affirmative.

"It was a test of skills, to see who were the best warriors in Mirkwood, but I still-" Tari shushed him and nodded slowly.

"And we both placed in the top final five. And that means we were both well trained warriors. It was as much of my fault as your,." she smiled. "besides, we both made it to Valinor, although by different paths. And now that we're here together, nothing will ever separate us again." At her words, it felt like a huge weight had been lifted off of his chest, He stood there for a moment just staring at his wife. Then a force of reality hit the prince, and he lunged foreword and grabbed Tari. She laughed as he lifted her up and swung her around happily. When he finally put her down, he didn't give her a chance to speak before he wrapped his arms firmly around her and planted a firm kiss on her lips. When he pulled away, Tari could see that the spark of life had returned to her prince's eyes.

"I can't believe that I am finally with you." Legolas said smiling, while offering her his arm. Tari laughed.

"You had better believe it. Or I may have to beat you again to prove it." she answered while taking his arm. Together, the prince and his princess made their way back to the pearly shores of the beaches of Valinor.

"So this is your wife?" a voice questioned from behind them. "You never told me how beautiful she was." The elf stopped in his tracks and spun around.

What he saw made his mouth fall open in shock.

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**I finally got this chapter up! It was made more difficult from the fact that I practically broke two of my fingers on my right hand while playing volleyball.**

**I'll have the final chapter up within the week if I can. **

**Elvenstar5**


	4. We are complete

**Well, I did get it up and now none of you can hurt me! **

**Reviewer Responses:**

**These are responses from all of the chapters. I haven't been able to do them until now… sorry!**

Sunni07**: thanks! I actually made you cry! I didn't know that my writing could do that! Thanks again for the review!**

Kelsey**: thanks for the review! For your questions, read, and all will be answered!**

Ichi-chichi** and **cheeseBUTT**: if you don't like it, keep it to yourself. And just…go smell a cow or something, anything but read stories that from the description, probably will be a MS.**

Laurenke1**: Thanks for the review! I'm glad that you liked it!**

Nilimade: **thanks for the review. As you can tell, I liked what you did to cheese head's name, so in their reviewer response, I used cheese butt. lol. I made you cry too? Wow… this is something new to me…I'm glad that you think that this story is worth reading!**

Lothliana: **thanks for the review! Read on!**

Myri78: **I'm glad that you like it! It was supposed to be a story with many different aspects to it, and according to your review, I seem to have pulled it off fairly well… thanks for the review!**

A'mael Eledhwn: **don't get your hopes up… just kidding! Read on!**

Marpessa: **thanks, it was a typo error made by me. Thanks for telling me!**

**Now on with the story...**

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Aragorn was standing on the beach with his queen, Arwen, at his side.

"Aragorn?" Legolas whispered, not believing what his eyes told him. Aragorn grinned at the two elves in front him. He released Arwen's arm and took a step towards his friend.

Placing an arm on Legolas' shoulder, Aragorn looked his friend in the eye. "Aye, mellonin, you won't be able to get rid of me that easily."

Tears of happiness were rolling the elf prince's face as he gladly embraced his old friend that he had believed to be . Over the humans shoulder, he saw a sight that stayed with him forever. Standing just behind Aragorn was the rest of the Fellowship of the Ring. Legolas' heart was filled with an immense joy as he saw each and every one of the members of the group that he had set out with that fateful day in December. When he pulled away, his eyes were full of joy, but they were also laced with a tinge of confusion.

"Aragorn?" he questioned cautiously, "How is this possible?" Aragorn frowned, wondering how to phrase his answer, when Tari stepped foreword.

"I think that I can explain. While I was in the Halls of Mandos, I noticed that Manwë was coming more often to talk to Mandos. As the numbers of his visits increased, I became more and more curious to why the most powerful of the Valar kept coming back. It took me a while, but finally I somehow mustered up enough courage as to ask why Manwë continued to grace us with his presence. I was told that I would soon find out for myself.

Not long after, Boromir showed up in the Halls of Mandos looking like he should never had been allowed into the Halls. Mandos took him away for a few hours, and when they came back, the man looked much better. Then others arrived. Many elves and men, came afterward, but the one elf who surprised me the most was Haldir. When he arrived, I feared the worst for you. Haldir explained about the battle of Helms Deep. He also told me about a contest that you and Gimli seemed to have going at the time.

Anyway, another bout of men arrived, and made me and the other elves confused. We had thought that the only one allowed into the Halls were the elves, yet here were a bunch of humans.

Then the rush slowed, and soon, no one else was coming into the halls. Then the two hobbits, Merry and Pippin arrived. And not long after, Aragorn, who was quickly followed by Arwen. It was then that Mandos bid us all to gather before him as he explained what was going to happen. He told us that because of the war of the Ring, Sauron was defeated forever. And because of the great deeds done by those who took part in the war, we were all going to be allowed to be released from his halls, and let into the land of Valinor. After that, I found myself on the beach, watching as a lone boat came slowly into the harbor. It was then that I left and went into the forest to await you." Tari finished her tale and stepped back to allow the members of the fellowship to surround her husband.

Tari watched as Legolas greeted each of the members of the fellowship. Her heart was filled with gladness at her husband's obvious happiness. When he turned back to Tari, she saw the tears of joy running down his face. Smiling, she stepped up to him and gently wiped away the tears on his face. She kissed him softly, and then pulled away, grinning at him.

"So the young prince is finally complete." Galadriel's voice sounded from behind the group. They all turned to find the Lords and Ladies of all three elven kingdoms. Galadriel, Celeborn, Elrond, Celebrian, Thranduil, and his wife, Beraidwen.

Legolas smiled and wrapped an arm around his wife's waist. "I am. And nothing will ever be able to take me away from her." Aragorn snorted.

"Not even a full barrel of your father's best wine?" he questioned slyly. "Last time you did that, a whole herd of Mumakil would have been able to stampede through your home, and you never would have woken up." His words got the desired effect out of the elleth.

"What?!" Tari exclaimed, moving out of her husbands grip. "When was this?"

Legolas jumped over to Aragorn and covered the human's mouth with his hands. "It was nothing, melamin. Aragorn is just making stories about me." Tari raised an eyebrow.

"If it was nothing, then why are you preventing your best friend from speaking? Surely if it was just a story, you wouldn't care about anything that would have come out of his mouth." She said skeptically. "Come, we have much to catch up on." A devilish smile sprang onto the elf prince's face.

"I agree." He said while scooping his wife into his arms. "Let us go find a spot where we can talk." With that, the two headed off into the forest.

After they had disappeared into the trees, Aragorn turned to his foster father. "I have never seen Legolas…so…so… alive." He said, searching for the right word.

Elrond smiled. "He was like this all the time after he married her. A happier elf I do not think could or ever will be found. Then, she had died, and that tragic event struck a terrible blow to Mirkwood's prince's heart. In the days following her , Legolas refused to eat or drink anything, and he stayed in his room, never coming out. The possibility of him dying and following her was very real." The elf lord's eyes creased in mild confusion. "Then, something happened, and it seemed that overnight, he made a decision to live. He started eating, and drinking, and to the untrained eye, it soon seemed like the prince had finally recovered. But, I never truly saw him heal. I suppose it was because he forbid anyone to talk about her, and the lack of voicing his pain, prevented his heart from mending."

Aragorn nodded. Taking Arwen's arm, he said, "If you would excuse us, it is beautiful here, and I would like to explore some more, for I am no longer an old man who is unable to move three feet with out hurting." He bowed to the elves in front of him, and then walked off down the beach, with the Evenstar at his side. The rest of the fellowship departed soon afterwards.

Elrond turned to Galadriel. "Now we are complete of those that we love. The last of the elves have sailed over the waters, and soon Mandos will release the rest of those in his halls, and there will always be more coming." He smiled. "Come; let us go to the celebration." The elves turned and walked towards the sounds of joyous singing and laughter.

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_So ends the story, My Last Breath. It was a tale of love, tragedy, and joy. Always remember that if you are ever parted from those you love, you will be reunited in Valinor._

_So when the silver horns sounds, and the cheers of those on the shore announce your grey ship's arrival, when your feet touch the ground, remember to look in the crowds of those waiting to greet you. See if you can spot the face of a golden haired prince, with his beautiful princess at his side. It is then that you will now that you are truly home for good._

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**It's finally finished! It took me forever, but it's done!**

**I hope that you all enjoyed it!**


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